March 7, 2024
by Kayla Minton Kaufman
Climate change
Public Lands
State and Local
Climate change and the legal punishment of homelessness together create intersecting hazards. Homelessness, therefore, is a community issue and an environmental issue.
March 1, 2024
by Kennedy Pivnick
Climate change
International
Sustainability
Aligning trade policies with environmental objectives is imperative to efforts to address the mounting global climate crisis. The Villars Framework offers a groundbreaking approach to environmentally-conscious trade policy.
February 27, 2024
by Nathan Tatum
Energy
Regulations
State and Local
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held its February open meeting on Feb. 15, 2024, addressing a number of items including cold weather reliability standards, hydropower permitting, and natural gas exports.
February 23, 2024
by Diego Huerta
Air
Climate change
Fossil Fuels
Regulations
State and Local
Massachusetts v. EPA is seen as an unalloyed victory for the climate movement, but over 15 years after the case was handed down, legal knock-on effects from the decision have come back to bite.
February 23, 2024
by Paige Kendrick
Air
Climate change
Fossil Fuels
Regulations
In the hope to leave Zombie Engines in the past, the EPA recently promulgated a new final rule on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles. In this GELR blog post, Paige Kendrick analyzes the recent changes regarding federal preemption of non-new locomotives and locomotive engines as well as steps being taken by California to reduce locomotive emissions.
February 15, 2024
by Nicholas Merrill
Plastic pollution
State and Local
Sustainability
Washington D.C. faces a crisis of confidence regarding its glass recycling practices. Does the District actually recycle our bottles? What can be done?
February 13, 2024
by Roman Carlitti
Climate change
Fossil Fuels
Renewable Energy
USPS’ decade-long effort to replace its antiquated vehicle fleet is threatened to be further delayed by multiple pending lawsuits challenging the agency’s compliance with NEPA.
February 8, 2024
by Nicholas Alois
Climate change
Regulations
State and Local
Last summer, Ludlow, Vermont, experienced devasting flooding after several inches of rain fell in the area in one day. In this article, Nicholas Alois discusses the flood’s impact on the community, the long rebuild process, and recommended flood prevention and mitigation efforts moving forward.
February 7, 2024
by Andrew Lloyd Bellah
Climate change
Regulations
Proposed changes to regulations affecting banks in the United States could potentially jeopardize wind, solar and other renewable energy projects that have relied on tax-equity financing to get off the ground, drawing criticism to regulators charged with the long-term stability of the financial system. The proposed rules, which require banks to hold greater reserves against direct investments in clean energy projects, play into a broader debate over whether a transition to sustainable energy and mitigating the existential risk of climate change fall within the purview of the Fed and other financial regulators.
February 1, 2024
by Samantha Cristol
Climate change
Sustainability
The construction industry has a complicated relationship with climate change. This post examines how legal tools can be used to simultaneously encourage emissions reduction and increase community resilience.